A Grimm in the Shadows
by Maria65
Summary: A new person has appeared, cloaked in white with silver eyes, yet something is off about her. A small, brief encounter with the woman, Ruby wonders who she is and why she is familiar. What is it about this woman and why does the woman find Ruby familiar as well? What shall happen next?


The group groaned at the harsh sunlight beating down on them; hating the intense heat, though they shouldn't be surprised. As they neared Atlas, it should've been obvious. Ruby was sticking beside Oscar, constantly asking if he was okay, Jaune and Pyrrha were flirting a little, his hand laying right where her tail would be. Ren and Nora were holding hands, swinging them back and forth as Nora spoke about something completely random. Yang was teasing Blake about Sun as the cat woman looked away, blushing a little even as Ilia, Weiss and Sun bickered about random things with one another. Qrow simply shrugged, not really caring to listen to their conversations, he had more important things to worry about...like finding the next closest village or even a shed for them to rest in. 

They'd make camp...but even at night, with the heat as it was during the day, night would fare no better. Eventually they reached a small town, making Qrow sigh in relief. They could take on some small requests, get some supplies and leave in about a week. They quickly went to the Inn, who told them there was a small house some hunters used, then decided to go ahead and get some rest, though a few did stay awake. Jaune and Pyrrha left to go train, Ren let with Ilia to go get some groceries for dinner while Yang and Nora played some games. Ruby, Oscar, Qrow, Sun, Blake and Weiss were asleep; all too tired to stay awake...though they knew it wouldn't be long until Ruby woke up. 

After dinner, dishes done and everyone cleaned up, they all retired...except for two people; Ruby and Qrow. "Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked her Uncle, coming down the stairs, realizing he was awake. "Hn?" Qrow turned to look at his 'niece', seeing she was awake as well. "Yeah Rubee's?" He asked, wondering what was bothering the daughter of the woman he loved. "Are you okay?" She asked, confusing him. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He questioned, wondering where she was going with the conversation. 

"Well…" Ruby began, somewhat nervous as she shifted on her feet. "you've seemed preoccupied with your thoughts lately. Ever since we talked about Salem reviving people and even more so after Oscar was hurt." She said, looking to the floorboards and Qrow sighed; he thought he was hiding it so well too. He couldn't deny, ever since Pyrrha revealed herself to the group and they spoke about how Salem revived her, Qrow wondered if she brought anyone else back. Then, when Oscar got hurt and how Ruby reacted, it reminded Qrow of Summer and Ozpin, when Summer flipped out over Ozpin being hurt. "Just thinking on the past Ruby, don't worry." Qrow tried to reassure her, giving his small, lopsided smile. 

Ruby seemed unconvinced and shifted more, seeming nervous and Qrow sighed. "Sit down Ruby, you're making me worried with how you're acting." He said softly, hoping to ease her and she did stop, before making her way over and sitting down, folding her hands on her lap. "What were you thinking about?" Ruby asked, wondering what it was and Qrow sighed, he couldn't tell her everything, it'd only cause problems. At least for Taiyang, Ozpin, himself and Yang. "Just what Pyrrha said." He said, stating his main reason of thought. It had been about a month and a half ago...yet the words still rung clearly in his mind. "What Pyrrha said?" Ruby asked, wanting clarification. 

"Salem revived Pyrrha, right?" He asked and Ruby nodded, they all remember Pyrrha and Ozpin explaining why Salem revived Pyrrha and how. "Well, it makes me wonder and worry...who else did she revive?" He questioned, looking at the ceiling and Ruby hummed. "Are you worried its someone close to us?" She asked and Qrow nodded, eyes kept up. "Yeah, it could be anyone...for me and Oz at least." He said and Ruby rose a brow. "But...why you two?" She asked and Qrow chuckled. "Believe me kid, there are actually a lot of hunters me and Oz are close to. Anyone of them she could have revived, we've had several friends go after Salem, only to fall at her hands." He said and Ruby flinched, just the thought was horrible enough! 

Qrow sighed, shaking his head and looking outside...he didn't want to think about who Salem really would've brought back. Only one woman came to mind, the one woman who could stop them all with just a single look...and bring Ruby to her knees in sadness and agony. Summer Rose...Ruby's mother, Ozpin's wife, his unrequited love, Raven's best friend (despite Raven saying otherwise), Taiyang's second wife and Yang's stepmother. Summer Rose would make them all stop in their tracks and refuse to fight her, especially himself, Ruby and Yang. He wasn't sure of the others, yet he had a feeling maybe they've meet her before; he knew Weiss and Blake had. Summer fought for Fanus rights, she also worked for the Schnee Company at points, so she's probably met the two. 

After all, the band Weiss had in her hair, he'd seen Summer buy it right before she meet Weiss's father for a mission. The bow Blake had, and kept in her pack; he had seen Summer give it to a young cat Fanus, who he was POSITIVE was Blake. Maybe he'd ask the two girls later if they knew a Summer Rose, it would have to be Ruby's mother, that was the only Summer Rose he knew after all. Ruby suddenly stood up, catching his attention. "Where are you going?" He asked his niece and she smiled at him. "I want to get some practice in before we get up in the morning for some training. I'm gonna beat Ozpin one of these days!" She said with a smile and Qrow laughed; yep, definitely a miniature version of Summer. "Alright, be careful kid." He said and Ruby nodded, before zipping out into the wilderness and he sighed. "Please...be careful." He grumbled, rubbing his head. 

[~~~~~*~~~~~] 

Ruby smiled as she was positive she had fixed the adjustments on Crescent Rose, as well as making sure the accuracy was correct. She had used a few small Grimm as targets, none bigger than a dog. It had been off a little so she was glad it was a small fix and she fixed a few other kinks in the gears that allowed it to transform. "There we go, good as new!" Ruby said happily, before leaning against the tree she was sitting under. She rather liked being in the forests, gave her time to think and figure things out; it helped when she realized she had a crush on Oscar. The chirping of crickets, the scuttling of animals, the small sounds of owls; it was all she needed for such a night. 

Ruby looked at the broken moon and hummed, would her mother approve of everything Ruby has done? Would Summer look at Ruby and say how proud she was? Ruby sighed and laid her head against her knees, she was so confused. "Mom, I miss you." Ruby whispered softly, burying her face between her knees. Suddenly all the noise stopped and Ruby froze...that was never a good sign. Qrow had always told her that when silence followed noise to be on your guard, it was never a good omen. Suddenly the tree before her shifted and she stood, transforming Crescent Rose into its scythe form. She walked forward a little, when the tree to her left suddenly rustled instead and she wiped her head toward the tree. 

She was feeling uneasy… Suddenly the tree behind her shook and Ruby growled, transform Crescent Rose into its gun form soon afterwards. "Who's there?" Ruby asked, looking around as she tried to pinpoint the next rustle. The tree to her left shook again and Ruby let lose a bullet in that direction, yet she noticed a shadow quickly jump to the next tree. Ruby growled, glaring around her as the tree to her right shook suddenly. Turning her gun that way, she stopped as she saw a silver eye and white cloak. "What the-?" She mumbled, lowering her transformed gun and clipped it behind her on the belt, not sure what to think. The figure narrowed its eyes at her, before dashing off. "Wait!" Ruby shouted, following the figure. 

Able to sense the figure, since it wasn't trying to hide where it went, Ruby was able to follow rather well; ignoring the white petals that trailed after the figure. "Stop!" Ruby shouted, trying to keep up with the figure, wondering who it was. The only other person with silver eyes was her mother, well...that she knew at least. The white cloak, it also seemed familiar despite it's obviously tattered state as she saw the edges. "Stop, please!" Ruby pleaded and suddenly the figure jumped down, landing before her with its back turned and Ruby panted, glad it stopped running. "What do you want?" The voice of a female asked, a slight growl in the back of her voice. 

Ruby took a deep breath and let it out slowly, glad she had finally caught up. "Who are you?" Ruby asked, keeping her gaze trained on the white clad woman. "Why should I tell you?" The woman growled out and Ruby rose a brow, answering a question with a question of her own, eh? "Because, you look like someone I know." Ruby said and the woman turned toward the right just a bit, letting Ruby see the silver eye with a glowing, red pupil...well that was weird. "I have no desire to speak to someone let you, Silver Eyed Maiden." The woman responded with a snarl and Ruby noticed longer than normal canines. "What in the name of Remnant?" Ruby mumbled, before a bullet flew between them. 

Ruby and the white clad woman both gasped, before Yang dropped before them with Pyrrha. "Who are you?!" Yang asked, eyes turned red with anger as her hair suddenly began to emit heat. Pyrrha responded with a snarl on her face as her Grimm features slowly revealed themselves. The white clad woman kept her back toward them, yet narrowed her eyes at Pyrrha, turning a little bit more and they noticed the black and red lines trailing up her pale cheek to the woman's eyes as the whites of her eyes turned black. "Ah, Pyrrha, the failed Grimm." She said and Pyrrha nearly roared at the mysterious woman, baring her fangs and the woman chuckled. 

"You don't scare me child." The mysterious woman said, pulling her hood around her face tighter, covering her face completely. "Goodbye." She said and before the trio could say anything, the woman was gone in a flurry of white rose petals. "Hey!" Ruby shouted in protest, only to sigh in disappointment as the petals simply laid in a small pile. "Ruby, you okay?" Yang asked, even as Ruby walked toward the pile and knelt down, looking at the petals in wonder. "She reminded me of someone…" Ruby trailed off, eyes showing her inquisitiveness as she tried to understand why the woman was familiar. "Ruby?" Pyrrha asked as her necklace glowed, hiding her Grimm features once more.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked herself silently, looking further in. Unaware to Ruby, the woman hadn't left completely, simply hiding in a tree, her scent covered by the nature around her in case Pyrrha tried to sniff her out. As Ruby left with Yang and Pyrrha, the woman hummed, wondering why the Silver Eyed Maiden was so familiar to her. _'I've seen those eyes before...but where?'_ She thought, before jumping away from the group, going in the opposite direction, letting the moon guide her way back home.


End file.
